Good boy, Hardy! You are more than a calm, balanced young man - you are also a ton of fun!

The last couple days, since we didn't have any classes and my van and power chair are in the shop, Hardy and I have been doing things around the house and out in the yard. We've been working on handling (feet, teeth, ears etc) on a bench on our deck and we've been working on everything else in the yard, driveway, bedroom, family room, kitchen and basement. Hardy, like Laurel, especially loves when we head down to the basement -my husband, Brent, matted part of it for me so we can do all sorts of fun things down there. Besides working on the basic obedience behaviors like sit, stand, down, touch, stays etc., we are doing "choose to heel" games. I'm also trying to remember how I taught Laurel some exercises, like the right finish with my power chair. Right now, I use a chair or my manual chair in the basement - I can handle a leash from either of those much more easily than from my power chair and I can position them in such a way to encourage Hardy to be straight next to me or I can practice many things off lead as well.
This morning, Hardy, Brent and I went to our manners class. Since I don't have my van or my power chair, we took my manual chair and when I needed help, Brent was there to push me. We worked on sit and down stays, some loose leash walking and recalls. Hardy did a terrific job and I think having my manual chair helped our connection - I'm closer to him in that chair than in my power one; there's no arm in between us and I had both my hands to handle the leash, clicker and treats/toy. By the end of class, he was trotting right next to me looking at me even when we were walking past other dogs and their handlers. When he's very pleased with himself, he just prances! Although Hardy is a calm/balanced adolescent, he still a ton of fun and we are having a great time learning together!